Roemer-Arcades (Römerarkaden)

The name is the programme: The "Roemer-Arcades" or Roman arcades remind us of the Italien journey of Frankfurt's most famous son. They play ingeniously with associations of the city's history - and promise to enliven the historic centre of the city. The design has emerged in the framework of the working group "cultural mile Braubachstraße" (Kulturmeile Braubachstraße). It's intention is to open up the ground floor of the city hall's extention, built in the years 1900 to 1908 by the architects Franz von Hoven and Ludwig Neher on both sides of the Braubachstraße, and thus facilitate its use by shops and gastronomy. Through transforming the neobaroque, up to now closed-off semi-circular romanesque windows into spacious arcades and peeling back the sequence of building facades on the ground level, pergolas with a South European semblance could come into being. The buildings, which up to now have been exclusively kept for administration, would experience a mixed usage. A protected public space would emerge and the inner city retail trade would be strengthened. And - with comparatively little money - the city of banking would be richer with one more attraction